Fate
by prisonwentworth
Summary: Bea Smith works happily as a hairdresser, but struggles at home with abusive husband Harry. What will happen when she meets an interesting girl in an unlikely place? Will they meet again? Is it fate? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Bea sat herself in her car, tying her hair in a loose ponytail. She checked her reflection in the side mirror and groaned- last night's wound was no longer red and inflamed, but the purple bruising she was all too familiar with was starting to show. She forced herself to remove her gaze from her reflection when she felt the tears coming. What did she do to deserve this? How had she not seen Harry as the awful, distasteful man he was before it was too late? She started the car and began driving before she could dwell on it too much.

She had to stay, for Debbie. Bea knew Debbie had noticed what Harry was doing to her and they had developed a sort of unspoken understanding, but she knew that talking about the issue openly would just break her. So, she had to stay. As of late, work was providing a somewhat pleasant distraction. Bea's hairdressing business was taking off, and she enjoyed spending time with the girls at work- Liz, Maxine, Boomer and Doreen. She could always count on them to help her through her rough days.

Bea parked outside the building and walked to the door, where she met Maxine. She watched her gaze flicker to the wound under her eye and back up again, a small sympathetic smile on her face.

"Morning Bea!" Maxine smiled. "Apparently the building is still in use, so I suppose we'll just have to have a quick look around and leave them too it."

With the current success of the business, Maxine and Bea were on the hunt for a larger premises, and had seen an ad in the newspaper that the lease contract on this building was almost up.

"In use?", Bea questioned.

"Yeah.." Maxine stated, "apparently the women's shelter operates from here".

Bea nodded in response. She'd thought about finding this place on a few of Harry's worst nights, but she never had the courage to actually do it.

Maxine saw the concern on her face and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be quick," she assured. She opened the door for Bea, and they continued inside the premises.

—

Bea gulped as she took in her surroundings. A lady named Kaz was showing them around- she seemed nice enough. As they walked, Bea watched the women carefully. To her surprise, most of the women seemed genuinely happy. Some looked beaten down, but this place sure did a great job of helping these women recover. Bea felt the sting of her own wound against her face and wished she could be happy, be safe. But she knew the minute she left, Harry would go absolutely ballistic. Come after her, after Debbie- it wasn't worth it. She was so lost in thought that she didn't see the young blonde walking in her direction as she rounded the corner, and they collided with a decent force, the girl's coffee spilling down both Bea's front and her own, both women falling to the ground. Bea's face flushed profusely as she noticed the girl get up quickly and dust herself off.

"Oh I'm…" Bea stammered, "I'm so sorry.. I didn't see you there".

"Ah, not a problem!" The girl chimed. "The coffee was cold anyway.."

Bea continued to look down, but felt her face flush brighter when she noticed the girl's gaze on her coffee-soaked body.

"Here, let me help you up", the girl offered, grabbing Bea's arm and pulling her up, gripping her other shoulder to steady her. Bea became short of breath when she felt the girl's strong yet sensitive touch, but quickly gathered herself and allowed her eyes to meet the girl's gaze.

"I'm Allie," the girl smiled, "and you are?"

Bea froze for a moment, staring into the striking ocean of blue that patiently awaited her answer. "Uhh..", she stammered, "I'm Bea. Bea Smith."

Allie flashed a smile and Bea's insides knotted. Why was she feeling so strange? Bea fidgeted and turned away from Allie- she had to catch up to Maxine and Kaz before they got too worried.

"Aye Bea, where ya going?" Allie questioned, "I need to get ya cleaned up!"

Despite the interesting vibe she got from Allie, Bea continued walking. She didn't need to be interacting with this woman, she had business to do.

"Bea? Bea!" Allie called, chasing after her and grabbing her arm once again. Bea inhaled sharply upon Allie's touch- it was almost involuntary. Shit… what had gotten into her? She felt her cheeks grow pink as Allie quickly pulled away.

"Sorry…." Allie mumbled, "are you hurt?"

"Nah, nah… I'm fine." Bea replied. Bea became defensive when Allie's face grew slightly confused. "I'm going anyway, I have business to sort out", Bea mumbled.

Allie picked up on Bea's defensiveness and bit her cheek as she tried not to smile. She lifted her hand back to Bea's arm and looked at her, drawn in by her breathtaking brown eyes. "Don't be silly… you won't be doing business with anyone looking like that".

Bea broke Allie's gaze and looked down at herself, chuckling lightly.

"I'll get you some clothes, c'mon," Allie smiled. Bea shyly returned her gaze back to Allie and nodded, following the blonde down the hall.

They walked in a reassuring silence until they reached Allie's small bunk room. It was quite dark, with only a small window in the corner for light to come in through. There were a few cracks in the wall, and the concrete floor looked less than inviting.

"Here we are. It's quite the place, as you can see," Allie giggled. Bea wondered what brought her here- she seemed too positive to be in a place like this- but she didn't dare ask. Instead she just laughed along with Allie and sat on her bed as she waited for her to grab some fresh clothes from her small drawer. Allie turned around with an armful of clean clothes, noticing Bea on her bed.

"Wow, making yourself at home already?" Allie joked, but again Bea felt the heat rise to her cheeks. Normally she was readily able to fire a good comeback, but she just shook her head, trying to hide her blush.

Allie noticed Bea's reaction to her comment and quirked her brow, silently questioning the woman's sudden nervousness. She too shook her head at the thoughts that were coming to mind, but she couldn't help but wonder. Who was this woman, and why was she here? Maybe running into her wasn't such a bad thing.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Bea sat in the usual cafe with Maxine, taking a big sip of her coffee to avoid answering any further questions. The delicious bitter liquid warmed her insides, and she sighed gently. She knew she couldn't avoid Maxine's questioning eye forever, but she honestly didn't know what to say. She didn't even think she was gone that long- how did Maxine notice everything? And even if she was gone for a while, she didn't get up to anything unusual. I mean that girl, Allie, she was certainly nice and everything. Cleaned Bea up despite their incident being completely Bea's fault, and she made her laugh quite a lot, but Bea wasn't into girls, not like that, and that's certainly what Maxine seemed to be insinuating.

"C'mon Bea, you can't even look at me. Something must have happened" Maxine questioned, her expression cheeky.

Bea was growing increasingly embarrassed and just as equally frustrated. "I was just at the toilet Maxi… drop it would you".

"You were in the bathroom together?", Maxine chuckled, "sorry hun, but that doesn't exactly help your case".

Bea's confusion was evident in her expression. "What?".

Maxine smiled, "Her name's Allie, yeah?"

Bea's eyes grew wide in shock. "Uhh… I… I um…", she stammered.

"Kaz and I saw you two in the hallway just before you supposedly 'came back from the toilet'", Maxine continued, "and let me tell you, Kaz wasn't happy. You might want to watch out, I reckon she has a thing for her or something. Then again I saw the way Allie looked at you, so I don't think you have a problem", Maxine said matter-of-factly.

Bea bit her lip, completely dumbfounded. She cringed as she felt the heat rising to her cheeks at the mention of Allie's name, and Maxine's grin just grew wider.

"It couldn't hurt Bea, I mean I can't help but notice that things with Harry don't seem to be getting much better, so if you couldn't find someone who-" Maxine started, but was cut off abruptly by Bea.

"I'm not gay", she insisted. And it was true. She'd never been with woman. She'd had a few boyfriends, then Harry came, and that was it. And it was going to stay that way.

Maxine just shook her head.

"The place wasn't big enough anyway, so we won't be looking there again, and I won't be seeing that Allie girl again," Bea defended.

Her voice cracked a little as she mentioned Allie, Maxine picking up on it, smirking and then plastering on a fake sad face. "Aw, poor Bea," she said sarcastically.

Bea couldn't help but feel angry at her friend. "I'm going now anyway", she huffed, "let me know if you find any other premises. I'll see you tomorrow". She hurriedly grabbed her things and began leaving the coffee shop.

"C'mon Bea, I was only joking!" Maxine tried, but Bea kept walking and didn't turn back.

Bea's mind was all over the place when she finally arrived home. The day's events had been nothing short of odd, and she couldn't think straight. She was instantly relieved by the note on the bench, left by Harry, letting her know he was out for the night with his mates. Debbie was at a friend's house, so she could finally get some alone time to relax and reflect.

She walked into the bathroom, deciding to unwind with a warm bubble bath. As she approached the mirror, she examined the scar on her face- it was now tinged with purple bruising, but had decreased in size thanks to the Vitamin E Allie had applied to it earlier. Bea sighed. What was with that girl? Why had she taken such an interest to Bea's wellbeing? And what was she hiding behind those big sparkling eyes…

Bea shook herself from her thoughts. Like she had said to Maxine, she would never see Allie again. Good. Now that she thought about it, the girl was just weird. Yeah, she was weird.

Bea smiled to herself as she ran the bath and began to strip off her clothes, happy with the conclusion that she had come too. She just ran into a weird stranger- that's not that odd, right? Right. She even laughed a little as she pulled off the T-shirt Allie had given her to wear- that was, until, a small piece of paper fluttered out of the chest pocket and landed at her feet. Confused, Bea bent over and picked it up quickly. As she unfolded it, her heart began to beat faster. Scribbled in a neat cursive font, the note read, "0418 306 337- Call me. Allie X".

What was this girl playing at? Was she really interested in Bea like that? As Bea hovered the note over the toilet, ready to flush, she couldn't help but pull back. She wasn't used to that type of attention, Harry sure as hell didn't give it to her. I guess it was kind of nice for a change. But was she crazy? This girl was weird, and they'd barely even spoken. Then again, it couldn't hurt to just call and ask her what her problem was. It's possible she may even just want to mention something about the property- Bea did tell her she was there for business after all. As she slipped into the warmth of the bath and felt her body relax, her fingertips lingered on the her phone…

Allie lay on her bed, scratching at the wall beside her. Kaz had sent her straight to her room- she wasn't happy about her so-called 'inappropriate' relations with a business client. With Bea. A grin formed on Allie's face. That woman was so guarded and defensive, yet Allie could see something so beautiful behind that. She did question her sexuality though- the scar on her face could have been from a simple accident, but Allie recognised the signs all too well and had a feeling Bea may have been beaten by a male, most likely her husband. Sure, Allie may not have made the best choices in her life, but she was smart, and she was observant.

Bea consumed Allie's thoughts for a solid fifteen minutes, but she eventually snapped back to reality when she realised their little incident and Bea and her friend's unimpressed faces when Kaz told her the rent price probably meant Bea wasn't coming back. She'd sneakily dropped her number in Bea's top, but she doubted Bea would ever- her thoughts were cut off by a ringing in her pocket. Allie dug around a little until she finally retrieved her phone, and was surprised to see an unknown number flashing up on the screen.

"Hello?" Allie answered.

"Allie?" A strong voice husked on the other end. Allie's breathing quickened at the sound. Could it be?

"Uhh.. yeah, this is Allie.." she stammered, "who's calling?"

"Hey….It's Bea" the voice whispered. _Bea_ whispered. Allie felt fuzzy inside and took a moment to gather herself.

"Wow, Bea," she replied, "I thought you'd never call."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Nothing but a muffled silence came from the other end of Allie's phone.

"Bea? Hello? Are ya there?" Allie questioned.

Silence.

The feelings Bea was feeling as she heard Allie on the other end of the line were foreign to her… they weren't feelings she normally felt towards anybody, especially not an almost stranger. She began to feel frustrated as she tried to push the thoughts from her mind, but they wouldn't go away.

"Bea? Why won't you talk to me?" Allie begged.

Bea opened her mouth the respond, but her overwhelming emotions got the better of her, complicating her already confusing situation. So she hung up.

 _Beep beep beep._ Allie let out a frustrated sigh. She shouldn't have expected much from Bea, I mean she didn't even know the lady properly. But there was something about her that drew Allie's attention immediately. She had an overwhelming urge to pursuit this older woman, but she now knew Bea obviously didn't feel the same. She tossed the phone off the bed, rolled over and covered her head with her pillow, trying to block out the persisting thoughts of this woman she hardly knew before drifting off into a restless sleep.

Bea let out a small gasp when she realised what she had done. She didn't mean to block out the young blonde completely- yes, she hardly knew the girl, but she was the first person besides Maxine to show true care for her in a long time. Disgruntled, she sat the phone on the bench and began shampooing her hair as she tried to shake the thoughts of Allie away- the girl would call back if she truly cared. Instead of focusing on Allie and the strange emotions the girl evoked within her, Bea focused on the relaxing massage she was giving herself as she worked the shampoo through her hair. She felt the strength of her fingers and she massaged her roots, down to the base of her neck. As she relaxed her thoughts began to stray, and without noticing she started to imagine those strong fingers belonged to Allie, not herself. What would Allie's fingers feel like running down her neck, down her- "Ughhh".

Bea sighed. What was going on with her? She felt nothing short of stupid as she evaluated the situation, and realised their encounter probably meant nothing to Allie, otherwise she would have called back, right? Right. Bea quickly rinsed her hair and got out of the bath, drying herself slowly. Maybe, just maybe, it was possible she could see Allie again. "Coincidentally", maybe. That way she could see her in person again, when she was in a better mental state, and surely she would see how dumb she was being and how she was exaggerating her feelings by overthinking the situation. Because she wasn't gay. Definitely not….

Allie spent the day trying to occupy herself, avoiding the thoughts of the those red curls and luxurious brown eyes that kept popping to her head. She helped Kaz get some first-time visitors sorted, helped Mel cook the day's lunch of slop, slop and more slop and then spent some time behind the front desk, busying herself with trivial duties. Occasionally she would find herself daydreaming and glancing out the window, watching the day go by.

Bea, on the other hand, had a slow morning at the salon, with Maxine constantly giving her sly cheeky grins when she could. Bea was not in the mood after her embarrassing chicken-out moment of the night before, so she concentrated as hard as she could on making small talk with her clients and getting their hairstyles exactly perfect. Finally the clock struck midday, and it was time for her lunch break. She grabbed her things and headed out the door, smiling at Liz and avoiding Maxine's gaze.

Bea gripped the steering wheel and swallowed hard as she parked the car. Her hands were shaking visibly. Why was she getting this nervous over a friend- an acquaintance even? She hadn't felt this nervous in a long long time, even when she used to enjoy Harry's company, she never felt like this. It was odd. Swallowing hard, she stepped out of the car before she backed out yet again, and made her way towards the shelter.

Allie's daze was broken as she caught a glimpse of red curls to the side of the window. Was she dreaming again? The figure turned slightly, her face coming into view. She was not dreaming. It looked like Bea, but it couldn't be. Her eyes widened as she tried to get a better view of the figure. Suddenly, the figure turned so that she was fully facing the shopfront, two heavenly brown eyes making complete contact with Allie's. Allie froze to the spot momentarily, her stomach flipping. It was Bea.

With one look into those piercing blue eyes, the feelings Bea had hoped were a figment of her imagination came flooding back, along with a wave of nausea. She felt slightly sickened by her actions- she had a husband for god's sake- but she was also scared sick of what her sudden quickened breaking and feelings tension in her chest meant. Overwhelmed, she turned away, walking a few metres in the opposite direction, surrendering to her nervousness and backing out once again. She shut her eyes in frustration, leaning against the cold concrete wall of a random shopfront, trying to control her breathing. In, out. In, out. In-

"Bea!" She heard Allie call. She shut her eyes tighter, part of her wanting to disappear, but part of her longing to see the girl in front of her once again.

"Bea, I know it's you. Those hot red locks don't belong to everyone".

For a moment Bea smirked, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. Then, the strong desire to avoid Allie's heated gaze came back, and before she knew it she was walking briskly- in fact she was almost running, in the opposite direction.

Allie laughed slightly. Bea's blush did not go unnoticed by her. She looked so cute when she blushed. It made Allie feel warm inside, and she knew Bea probably felt warm inside, too. Which, was exactly why Allie couldn't let her run from her emotions yet again, and followed her down the street.

"Bea!" Allie called.

She reached her hand out and grabbed Bea's shoulder gently, causing her to gasp at the contact and finally turn to face Allie.

"Bea." Allie smiled.

Bea's gazed lowered, unable to handle the intensity of Allie's eyes. As she felt the blonde scanning her facial features she began to blush once again, and felt herself turn an even darker shade of red when she recalled her mishap with the phone call the night before.

"Uh.." Bea stuttered, "about last night, on the phone, I didn't mean to uh, you know, um, leave you like, I uh, umm" she tried to defend, stumbling over her words.

"I get it", Allie breathed, smiling softly as Bea met her gaze. "It's fine. I honestly didn't even expect to hear from you. I mean I wanted to…". Her eyebrow quirked, sending a shiver down Bea's spine.

This was ridiculous, she was married.

"Anyway.." Bea stammered, "I don't know what I came here for, I…"

Allie could feel the nervous energy radiating off Bea's body, and she sure as hell knew why. She knew there was something there that first day she saw Bea, and now, she knew Bea could feel it too. She also knew Bea was too scared to admit to anything, so she was going to have to be bold. Allie breathed in deeply, and grabbed Bea's hands softly.

Bea felt Allie's gentle touch like a bolt of electricity. She was surprised when she didn't find herself pulling back immediately, and instead looked up to meet Allie's gaze.

Allie drew circles around Bea's palms with her thumbs, eliciting a sharp gasp from the older woman. Allie leaned in, her hot breath on Bea's neck.

"This is what you came for," Allie whispered, planting a light kiss on Bea's neck and pulling back, smiling at a shocked but awe-filled Bea staring into her eyes.

NOTE: Hey everyone, sorry for the delay I have been really busy, but I promise to update regularly now as I have a good vision for this story. I know the build up of their relationship may seem kind of rushed, but as I said I have a good vision so rest assured there is plenty more to come! And keep the reviews coming I love to hear what you all think :)


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